Pets Are a Lot Like Us
By Skip Sheffield
“The Secret Life of Pets” imagines that pets communicate and
interact much like the humans that maintain them. It’s a pretty thin premise,
but this computer-generated animated feature is amusing, especially for those
who love their pets.
The main character is a terrier named Max (voice of Louis
C.K.). His life revolves around his owner Katie (Ellie Kemper), a young career
woman in New York City. When she arrives he is ecstatic. When she goes for
work, he is devastated.
Max’s life is turned upside-down when Katie shows up one day
with a new rescued dog. She calls him Duke (voice of Erin Stonestreet) and he
is a big, shaggy, slovenly dog.
Max has a girlfriend across the way. She is a dainty, lovely
poodle called Gidget (Jenny Slate).
The main action of “Secret Life” occurs when Max and Duke
venture into the outside world, all the way to Brooklyn. There they are the
prey of ever-vigilant New York City dogcatchers. An uneasy alliance is formed
with Snowball (Kevin Hart), a cuddly white bunny who is a rebel at heart and
fierce leader of a ragtag army of abandoned pets who are united in their hatred
of “the man” who rejected them.
Gidget emerges the unlikely hero of this story.
Anthropormorphism is the fancy term for ascribing human
characteristics to animals. As long as we have pets, we will imagine their
secret lives when we are away. “The Secret Life of Pets” feeds on that fantasy.
It may not be real, but it is a lot of fun.
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